■Friday, February 10, 1961
~~ ' — MAROON AND GOLD
Elon Wins Close Game From High Point In Closing Seconds
Irmn Leada I rna i>rkc r,, ^ i c r ,
Irvin Leads
Cage Squad
In Scoring
Jug Irvin, yie sharpshaoting
Si^utky colonel, who continued
to pace the Elon scoring through'
games of last Saturday night, was
only 140 points away from a new
Elon season scoring record as the
Christians returned from West
ern Cwolina after splitting a pairj
of tilts with the Catamount cagers.
Irvin had racked 468 points in
23 games through that time, and'
he needed only 140 points in at
least eight more games to surpass i
Don Haithcock’s Elon season rec
ord of 607 points, which the form- ^
er Christian pivot star set back
in 1952. Irvin was averaging 20.3
points per game, exactly one full
point ahead of Dee Atkinson's
Elon season record average of 19.3)
counters per game.
Only two Elon cagers were hit
ting for an average in double fig
ures through last week, with Cap
tain Ken Smith holding runner-up
spot to Irvin with 379 pomts in 22
games and an average of 17.2
points per game. The Christian ■
squad, as a whole, was averaging
75.3 points per game, while allow
ing all opponents an average of
74.0 points per game.
The combined twosome of Jug
Irvin and Ken Smith, who wf>re
both in the top scorers of the North
State Conference, represented by
far the best “one-two punch” in i
the state’s small-college I'top, for
(Continued on Po?e Four'
^ i ilESHMAN GUARDS STAND OUT WITH CHRISTIANS
Irvin And Smith Lead
Qnintel To 84-82 W in
Powered by the shooting of the
hottest "one-two” punch in the
I North state Conference, the Klon I Eloil CililC
Christians built up an early lead |
■ind then staved oft a determined
last-half assault by the High
Point Panthers to grab a thrilling
84 to 82 victory over the Panthers
at High Point on Wednesday
night, February 1st.
In gaining the victory, which
Talking Sports
With
DAVID ‘PROPHET’ MARSHBURN
“Something extra!”
Yes, just a little taste of it can
pull a game out of the fire when
ever two North State Conference
teams meet on the basketball court
this year, and there's no team in
the Conference right now which
can feel any real spirit of confi
dence regarding its position in the
standings.
Even Lenoir Rhyae, who has
roosted for some weeks on the top
rung of the ladder, must not feel
In too high spirits after seeing
what a tumble Appalachian took
In almost no time at all, for loss
es on successive nights bumped
the Apps from a first place con
tender to a shaky third.
It seems that there is not a
team in the Conference which can
not bump any other team off on
3 particular night, a fact proven
by Atlantic Christian’s wins over
Appalachian and East Carolina
iand the Western Carolina win
over an Elon team that appeared
hot when it invaded the mountains.
The Elon Christians, after a
somewhat poor and shaky start in
the early season, have come along
f>st in recent games, and we here
on campus feel that they have
shown the other Conference teams
that they are really bidding for
3 first division berth before the
season closes. In fact, the Christ
ian play in certain games, such
^.’’s those against Pfeiffer and High
last week, have shown that
could be a threat for top
honors.
In the Higu Point game on the
Piither court, li seemed at one
that the Chri*tla;'s were falt
ering and might lo«e gnothcr Ust-
ininute decision, but th®V nev
er gave up, and last minute free
throws paired by Roland Miller
iced a well-earned victory.
What has made our Christians
the fine team tiat they are at
this stage ot the season? No single
that truly great one-two punch
from Jug Irvin and Ken Smith,
both of whom have proven them
selves to be fine team players as
well as deadly shooters.
Irvin and Smith have proven
themselves two of the finest re
bounders in the Conference, with
their springy legs boosting them
into position to grab a goodly
share of balls off the boards, one
must not forget the work of Eddie
Burke and Dewey Andrew under
the boards.
Although Elon’s outside men
have not matched the inside boys
in the scoring columns this year,
Coach MiUer has had some fine
shooting from Gary Teague and
oland MiUer at times, and BUI
Morningstar has contributed some
truly great defensive play from
his guard spot. Notice sometime
how many rebounds Morningstar
comes out with, despite his small
size.
Those may not be all the fact
ors which have contributed, but
they are important ones. How
ever, there are still other things
needed if the Christians are to
come through as a championship
contender, and one of the most
important things is improved sup
port for the team from the student
body in the stands.
There has been much criticism
of our cheerleaders this year, and
it is true that all too often several
of th«m fail to show up for even
the home games. However, those
cheerleaders could have more
support from the stands, and per
haps oncreased student support
would make the cheerleaders
themselves work harder while
pushing the cagers to greater ef
forts.
In closing this evaluation of our
varsity basketball of 1961, let me
encourage all of you to come on
out and give the team the support
it needs to send the Christians to
the very top of the heap in their
Elon Victor
In Contest
At Pfeiffer
Moving the ball well against
the "slow down” tactics ot the
Pfeiffer Falcons, the Elon Christ
ians grabbed the lead from the
first whistle and moved steadily
to a decisive 83 to 02 victory in
a North State Conference battle
at Pfeiffer on Monday night, Jan
uary 30th.
The Christians play in the game
that night was a complete reversal
of form from their ragged pldy in
the loss to Catawba two nights
earlier, for the Elon cagers were
shooting well, moving the ball
with precision and reboundi,ig well
off both boards.
Captain Ken Smith topped the
Elon scoring with 22 points in
seven field buckets and eight
charity tosses in ten tries. He also
joined with Jug Irvin, Eddie
Burke and Dewey Andrew in vir
tually sweeping the backboards
on rebounds.
Jug Irvin, who has paced the
Christian attack in most games
this season, stood out in a new
role last night as he fed the ball
accurately to his mates tor bas
kets. The Falcons double-teamed
Irvin on defense, so the .B«rkes-
ville Bomber played decoy and
ted off for fifteen assists during
the battle.
Coach Miller, commenting on
the victory, which gave Elon
6-4 standing in the North State I
ratings, expressed himself as
pleased with the Christian p.ay.
He pointed out that both Burke
and Andrew played well in the
middle, with the two big me.i
combining for a total of 24 points
from the center position.
In addition to Captain Smith’s
22 points, other Christians in dou
ble digits were Andrew with 15
and Roland MUler with 10 count
ers. Bobby Frank»topped Pfeiffer
The line-ups;
Two freshman cage performers have played key roles with the
Fighting Christian basketeers this season, with both youngsters
breaking into starting posts at guard with Coach Bill Miller’s
squad. The two first-year stars are Bill Morningstar, shown left,
who played his high school ball at South Boston. Va., and Roland
Miller, pictured right above, who hails from Lakeville, Ind. Morn
ingstar, who learned his basketb.->Il under the coaching of Hank
Hamrick, one-time Elon basketball and baseball great, has played
in each of Elon’s games this season and hit 136 points in 23 games
for an average of 5.8 points pe, game. Miller, who has playeo
in all except four games, hit ^^5 points in 19 games for an aver
age of 6.6 points per game.
Basketeers Split Gaines
With Cats ’At Cullowhee
It took a truly sensational come
back by the Christians to do it,
but the men of Bill Miller had
what it took as they turned back
the Western Carolina Catamounts
8,'i to 84 in Cullowhee last Satur
day night to gain a split in a
two-game series on the Catamount
court. The Cats had won the Fri
day night battle by a decisive 85
to 72 margin.
The split in the weekend play
at Western Carolina gave the Elon
basketeers a mark of three wins
in four starts during the week as
they moved into fourth spot in
the North State Conference stand
ings, a position they need to hold
if they are to get a favored spot
in the annual Conference tourna
ment.
West Carolina 85, Elon 72
The Elon Christian bid for high
er rating in the North State Con
ference took a setback when the
Elon basketeers dropped an 35
to 72 decision to the Western Car
olina Catamounts on the Cat's
home court last, Friday night.
In the first of two weekend
meetings between the Christians
and Catamounts, both of them at
(Continued on Page Kour)
carried with it fourth place rank
ing in the Conference cage race.
Jug Irvin and Ken Smith paired
their eagle-eyed shooting to build
up a 12-point lead for the Christ
ians early in the second half, but
the Christians had to call on Rol
and Miller, a calm and cool fresn-
.iian, for a pair of free throws in
the final thirty seconds to ice the
decision
Irvin and Smith, the twin sie^; •
iuns for Elon. firing with th'
accuracy of squirrel hunters from
their native Kentucky hills, paired
for 60 of Elon's 84 points. Irvin
ripped the nets for 12 field bas
kets and hit seven of nine free
throws for 31 points, while Smith
bagged 10 field goals and sank 9
of 11 charity tosses for 29 points.
The double-barrelled assault on
the basket by Irvin and Smith
forced Coach Virgil Yow to send
his Panthers into a zone defense,
something he seldom does, but the
zone was unable to halt the Elon
scoring, and the Panthers resum
ed their man-to-man defense for
the stretch drive.
The home-standing Panthers
were away in front in the early
moments, but Elon grabbed the
lead at 9-8 after three minutes of
play and moved to a 46-39 margin
by half-time. Irvin had 17 and
Smith 13 in the first-half play,
and both topped those figures as
they got hotter in the second half.
As second half play began.
Smith and Gary Teague dropped
a pair of outside shots over the
High Point zone, Teague added a
free throw, and Irvin jumped tor
one and tapped a rebound for two
successive baskets to shoot Elon
into a 12-point edge at 55-43 three
minutes into the final period.
It was then that the Panthers
rallied under the leadership of
Joe Guzinski and began cutting
the lead. The High Pointers tied
the count at 76-all and moved
ahead on two free throws by Phil
Garrison. Twice the Panthers
were ahead by two, with Ken
Smith hitting each time for Elon
to even the count. Irvin hit for
Elon’s 82-80, but Chalmous Se-
chresrt tied it on a tap, and it re
mained for Miller to clinch the
Christian win with two free tosses
' in the final thirty second.^
SEEN AS CHRISTIANS DEFEATED PANTHERS
*hing can be called the determ-
iiung factor. Of course, there’s late-seas.n games. WiU ya.
Pfeiffer (G2)
Claypoole (8)
Hottinger (14)
Frank (18)
McManus (4)
Johnson (6)
Half-time^ Elon 32, Pfeiffer 24
Elon subs — Andrew IS, Hawks
6. Teague 3, Myers 2, Maidon.
Pfeiffer subs — Greene 5, Hock 1
Stealey 2, Pine 4. Hawk.
Pos. Elon (83)
F—Irvin (9)
F—Smith (22)
C—Burke (9)
G—Miller (10)
G—Morningstar (7)
RIon 74. Pfriffrr 66.
Elon 69. Knikine 76.
Elon 70, Wofford 75.
Elon. 59. Brimnnt Abbey 64.
Elon 8.’5. Wofford 71.
Elon 87, Gilfurd 63.
Elon 57, I>enoir Rhyne
Elon 85, Pomhrokr 80.
Elon 79, Camj Lpjeune 94,
FJon 66. IMkrvlllp 89.
Elon 89. G«. Southern 62.
Elon 72. Catawha 57.
Elon 88. Prmbrokr 84.
Elon 77. East Carolina 78.
Elon 66, Appaliirhian 8S.
Elon 77, A.C.C. 76.
Elon 64, Catawba 59.
Elon 94, lligh Point 72,
Elon 68, Catawba 69
Elon 82, Pft-lffrr 62.
Elon 84. liiKh Point 82.
Elon 72, West Carolina 85
Elon 85, West Carolina 84
(Kemaining Game*)
Feb. 6—A.C.C., home.
Feb. 8—Appalacliian, away. '
Feb. 10—Erskine, home,
Feb. 11—East Carolina, away.
Feb. 13—Camp Lejeunr. away.
Feb. 16—l.enoir Rhyne, home.
Feb. 18—Guilford, away.
Feb. 22-26—North State
Tournament.
Elon hit 30 of 73 shots for a
42.4 per cent average, while High
Point counted 29 of 70 shots fo/
41.4 per cent from the floor. The
Christians grabbed rebounding
honors 50 to 40, with Smith taking
down 11 and Dewey Andrew 10
for the night.
The line-ups:
Pos. FJon (84) llixh Point (82)
F—Irvin (31) Guzinski (liJI
F—-Smith (29) Unger (14)
C—Burke (7) Nolan (3)
G—Teague (5) Short (7)
G—Morningstar (2) Bartlett (12'
Half^ime: Elon 46, High Point
39.
Elon sabs — Andrew 7, MlUer
3, Hawks. High Point subs — Gar
rison 7, Skidmore 4, Daniel 2, Se-
christ 5, Fallin 10, Buchanon.
JuK Irvin who racked 31 points in pacing the Elon cagers to a thrilling 84 to 82 win over High
Pcint on the Panther court on Wednesday night, February 1st, is shown above as he broke through
between two High Point players to retrieve a loose ball for his team. The Panther players clos-
lag in on Irvin are Jack Short, left, and Wolfey Unger. ^
Catawha Is
Last-Second
Winner Here
Inability to hit the basket prov
ed costly for the Elon Christians
on Saturday night, January 28th,
as they dropped a North State
Conference decision to the Ca
tawba Indians by a 68 to 60 mar
gin in a battle which went into
overtime after a 60-60 deadlock
in the regular game.
The Christians were back on
the court for their first game in
almost two weeks, for they were
resuming competition after a
break for mid-year examinations,
and Coach Bill Miller’s boys show
ed clearly the effect of the lay
off as they hit less than 30 per
cent of their floor shots for the
night.
It was by far the worst shooting
exhibition of the year for the
Maroon and Gold cagers, who nad
been averaging well over 40 per
cent on their action shooting for
all games prior to the mid-year
break. The Elon outfit bit only
nine of 34 shots in the first half,
and they were unable to connect
on a single one of eight attempts
In the overtime period.
The Indians connected on a
field goal for the first score, but
Jug Irvin and Burke put Elon
ahead with shots through the first
six minutes, only to have the in
vading Indians grab the lead at
11-10 on a bucket by A1 Johnson.
It was nip-and-tuck the rast of
the half as the count was twice
tied, and the lead swapi>ed ten
times before Catawba went out
with a 30-28 half-time lead.
(Continaed on Page Four)